Public Statements

New budgeting, project planning at CDOT will accelerate needed projects, fund 10,500 jobs over five years

Press Release

Gov. John Hickenlooper and Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Executive Director Don Hunt announced today a new approach to budgeting and planning that will accelerate completion of transportation projects and create or sustain more than 10,500 jobs over five years.

The Responsible Acceleration of Maintenance and Partnerships (RAMP) program will better coordinate project expenditures and available funding, allowing CDOT to use an additional $300 million per year over five years on projects in rural and urban areas of the state.

The projects included in RAMP will be in addition to CDOT's planned construction program. Criteria for choosing the additional projects will be developed by the Colorado Transportation Commission in the coming weeks.

"Efficient and effective use of public money is at the core of this effort," Hickenlooper said. "This change in fiscal management will allow CDOT to make improvements to the state's transportation system and give the construction industry a needed boost. The program doesn't solve the state's long-term transportation needs, but it does accelerate many projects that might otherwise have had to sit longer."

Currently, CDOT does not advertise a project until all of the money is "in the bank," which means the department is saving money for projects over multiple years before construction begins. In addition, some projects take several years to construct -- so money often sits unspent when it could be utilized much sooner.

Under the RAMP program, CDOT will fund multi-year projects based on year of expenditure, rather than saving for the full amount of a project before construction begins. This effort will match project expenditures with available revenues and allow CDOT to fund additional transportation projects over the next five years. Plus, every $1.5 million spent on transportation projects sustains or creates 10.55 jobs.

"This is a more efficient and effective means of project delivery and good way to get more people back to work," Hunt said. "We have more certainty in federal funding than we have had in the last four years and feel comfortable joining other states in this kind of transportation budgeting and planning."

CDOT will begin implementing the budgeting and planning program in early 2013 and will continue to move forward with its planned construction program.